


Let The Tide Bring Us Together

by MimicHero_Echo



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst is inevitable because I'm awful, Background Gladnis is also inevitable, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Little mermaid undertones because I love that movie, Multi, Neither of them understand how feelings work, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prompto is the merman btw, Rating will probably change at some point, Slow Burn, So lots of pining and confusion, merman au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-15 18:24:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11236656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MimicHero_Echo/pseuds/MimicHero_Echo
Summary: ~In a moment he would dub as sheer stupidity he decided to voice his questions to the stranger.“How did you get in here?” The scream that followed was not what he expected.~Yet another Merman Promptis AU for your reading pleasure! I'm posting this over from my tumblr because I would love some more feedback, and I feel like continuing it will be easier here!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written for @n-x-p on tumblr because of some fabulous Prompto merman art they drew! I hope they see it on here as well, and I hope everyone who stumbles upon this fic enjoys it!

Noctis hated his mundane life, despised it to his very core. Not that he’d ever say that out loud, the tabloids would somehow turn it into a classic ‘Is Prince Noctis Being Mistreated at the Castle?’ article. Noctis visibly shuddered at how often similar headlines dominated the news for weeks at a time. The additional cameras shoved in his face, the pointless questions, the complete lack of privacy, all of it drove him insane. He used to find himself praying that something, anything would happen during those weeks to get the press off his back. Usually his prayers went unanswered, however the gods seemed to be gracious today.

“Prince Noctis, yesterday you were spotted in a lower class district. Do you have anything to say? Are you being ignored at the castle?” Noctis was tempted to answer with a yes, for the most part it was true, other than Ignis and Gladiolus who almost paid too much attention to him.

“No comment.” Clearly the only logical explanation for Noctis being in a lower class district was because he was being mistreated, not because he was sent to see how the lower class functioned, and how to improve their lives. No, that would be outlandish. Even after he had turned around and started walking away he could still hear them asking questions, luckily their yelling drowned out his groan of frustration. At this point, Noctis had learned how to deal with their persistence so he changed his direction and began walking to the beach. It was summer so there should be plenty of people on the beach. Sure enough, when he finally got to the beach it was packed, which just made his plan easier. He slowly made his way through the crowd of people, warping whenever he could. Eventually he got away from the largest part of the crowd, but he kept going, he didn’t want to get spotted by a random citizen and have his cover blown.

“Finally.” Noctis muttered to himself when all he could hear were the calming sounds of waves. He wasn’t sure how far he actually was from the crowd but he didn’t care, this was a rare moment of peace and he wanted to enjoy it. Noctis continued walking down the beach, until he spotted what looked like a cave a few footsteps in front of him. Normally, Noctis was not adventurous at all, besides it’s not like he could leave the beach until the paparazzi stopped searching for him. With a small shrug he slowly crawled into the space, Noctis however was unprepared for the sudden drop, so without warning he slid down the side of the cave.

“Should’ve turned on a light instead of blindly crawling.” Noctis grumbled to himself after, quite literally, landing on his ass. Noctis found that he didn’t need to turn on a light as there were several holes in the cave that allowed sunlight to stream through. As Noctis looked around he noticed, a rather large pool of water that covered over one half of the entire space, there was a very good chance that it lead back out to the ocean. It would make no sense for a freshwater spring to exist so close to the ocean after all. With a brief look at his surroundings, Noctis came to a conclusion, someone was living here. Or at least it looked like it, dozens of random trinkets were scattered throughout the cave, a couple phones, shoes of various sizes and designs, random pieces of jewelry, and at least a dozen waterproof cameras. After a more careful analysis of the items Noctis decided that no one actually lived here, but that didn’t explain how all these items got here.

“I’m home!” Noctis nearly jumped out of his skin, as a cheery voice followed by splashing suddenly echoed through the cave. As far as Noctis could tell, the newcomer either hadn’t noticed his presence yet, or simply didn’t care. He watched from a safe distance as the blonde swam to the edge of the pool and pulled a bag out of the water, humming in a happy tune as he pulled random items out of the bag. That would explain all the trinkets in the room but Noctis still couldn’t figure out how someone could have swam from the ocean into the cave. He knew the entrance was away from the beach and probably pretty far out in the ocean. In a moment he would dub as sheer stupidity he decided to voice his questions to the stranger.

“How did you get in here?” The scream that followed was not what he expected.


	2. Chapter 2

Noctis had expected the stranger to be startled, he probably had scared the hell out of the blonde, but this was so much more than he had seen coming. Noctis had to cover his ears when the blonde screeched, the scream alone was overwhelming, not to mention the fact that the echo from the cave caused it to seem louder than it was. Noctis knew that scream wasn’t human, no matter how normal the being in front of him looked, if that shriek was pitched any higher Noctis could guarantee only dogs would hear it. It took a few moments after the blonde in front of him stopped screeching for the echo to dissipate, but by the time he uncovered his ears the blonde had already pushed himself as far away from Noctis as possible.

“What the hell was that?” Noctis asked, mostly out of shock, but an actual answer would have been lovely. Turning to look at the other, Noctis saw a sharp glare being directed at him. Noctis quickly realized this was an intimidation tactic as the blonde in front of him still looked terrified, even with the cold look in his eyes. Noctis had no idea what to do, he could attempt to escape but the only safe way out would be through the pool. Noctis assumed the being in front of him would not be okay with that, so he needed a new escape route. Noctis slowly stood up, in an attempt to not startle the blonde any further. However, once he stood up the blonde in front of him seemed to grow even more anxious.

“Go away.” The being spoke so quietly Noctis almost couldn’t even hear his demand. Noctis was more than ready to leave, but the only feasible way out would be through the pool. When he took a step towards the pool, the blonde in front of him started making clicking sounds. Wait, what?

“Is that coming from you?” Noctis had to do a double take when he heard the noises. There was no response from the blonde, just clicking noises. The noise reminded Noctis of a dolphin, but with the hostility of a hissing cat. The clicking was added to the quickly expanding list of noises humans can’t make, but the blonde in front of him can. Noctis took a few steps back until he was pressed against the wall of the cave, this caused the clicking noises to stop.

“Please leave.” The blonde begged, biting his lip nervously. Noctis sighed, so the other actually saw him coming closer as some sort of threat.

“You’re not exactly making it easy. The only way out is through the pool and you won’t let me anywhere near it.” Noctis saw a flush rise to the blondes cheeks and had to hold in his laughter.

“Well then stay there! I don’t want you coming near me!” The blonde huffed indignantly, crossing his arms in frustration. This time Noctis couldn’t hold in his laughter and a small snicker escaped his lips, causing the blonde to glare at him.

“Sorry, I guess since I’m trapped here for the time being we should get to know each other. My name is Noctis, what’s yours?” Noctis would have loved to ask what, the blonde in front of him was, but he decided to keep it simple for now.

“Prompto.” The blonde murmured, still sending Noctis a wary glance.

“Nice to meet you Prompto.” Noctis didn’t miss the small eye roll from Prompto, who had now turned away from him and was emptying his bag of the remaining items. Noctis wanted to know more about the blonde in front of him, but he knew that now wouldn’t be the best time. Noctis made a promise to himself that one way or another he would figure out exactly what Prompto was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Thank you to everyone who has read this fic! I'm really glad you guys seem to be enjoying it and I hope you'll continue to stick with me!


	3. Chapter 3

It had taken Noctis all of two seconds to realize Prompto wasn’t interested in conversing with him, which left him with very few ways to distract himself. Noctis had considered taking a nap, however he was still worried the blonde might try to snap his neck in his sleep, better safe than sorry.

“Dammit.” Noctis flinched when Prompto cursed, the sudden noise startling him. Noctis didn’t understand what warranted the profanity until he saw the pained look on Prompto’s face and blood mixing with the water.

“You’re bleeding.” Noctis stated, earning another glare from the blonde.

“I’m aware. Do you want a medal for your grand observation?” Prompto’s sarcasm would’ve annoyed Noctis if it weren’t for the pained whine he released at the end of his sentence.

“You need to get out of the pool, the salt water is just going to agitate the wound.” Noctis added, while stepping closer to the blonde.

“Don’t come any closer! I’m fine!” Noctis was now standing right at the edge of the pool, putting his hands up surrender.

“You’re clearly not fine. I’m trying to help you alright?” Noctis didn’t wait for a response before jumping into the pool. Noctis quickly realized he should’ve waited for Prompto to calm down before coming to drag him out of the pool, since he was slapped by the other as soon as he got within arms reach.

“I told you I’m fine! Go away!” Prompto looked like he was going to start screeching after he finished yelling, which caused Noctis to put a hand over his mouth.

“I’m going to ignore the slap for now, but I prefer to be able to hear, so until you calm down I’m covering your mouth.” Prompto flailed wildly, while Noctis pulled him out of the pool, releasing the occasional pained whimper. Once Prompto was finally pulled out of the water, Noctis stopped moving, Prompto had a tail.

“I told you I was fine!” Prompto snapped after pulling Noctis’ hand away from his mouth. “Damn, the hook is really stuck.” Prompto added after a failed attempt at pulling the fishing hook out of his tail.

“What are you?” Noctis questioned, still in a state of shock.

“What does it look like? I’m a mermaid over whatever you call it.” Prompto stated still pulling on the hook.

“Stop pulling on it you’re making the wound worse.” Noctis commented, pushing his new questions to the side in favor of helping the blonde in front of him.

“Well, it’s not like you’re helping. This has happened before, I can take care of myself.” Prompto muttered, attempting to pull on the hook again. Before Prompto could injure himself any further Noctis slapped his hand away.

“You’re going to hurt yourself, you can’t just rip it out. I’m going to try and take it out, will you let me help you?” The apprehension was clear on Prompto’s face, it’s not like Noctis actually expected him to be on board but it was worth a shot.

“Fine.” Noctis wasn’t sure why, but he was relived that Prompto was letting him help.

“It’s probably going to hurt so I’ll try to pull it out as fast as possible alright?” The small nod Noctis received was conformation enough. Noctis let out a sigh, silently praying that he was actually able to help the blonde.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, let me just say THANK YOU!! I DIDN'T EXPECT SO MANY PEOPLE TO READ THIS AND GIVE ME KUDOS! THANK YOU ALL SOO MUCH!!!

“That hurts!” Prompto ground out, pushing Noctis back and glaring. It had been about four minutes of Noctis trying to help and Prompto pushing him away, needless to say Noctis was losing his patience fast.

“It wouldn’t hurt if you weren’t pushing me away and flailing around like an idiot.” Noctis spat pushing Prompto’s hand away in another attempt to remove the hook.

“I told you I was fine. I didn’t ask you to help me, I’ve never had help before and I don’t need it now.” Noctis watched in silence while Prompto threw a mini temper tantrum.

“Fine then, take it out yourself.” Noctis didn’t miss the shocked look in Prompto’s eyes, nor the way his hands were shaking slightly. Clearly the blonde was in pain, but Noctis was to irritated to care. It had been about a minute of Prompto staring blankly at the hook before making a move to pull it out. Noctis winced at the strangled cry that left Prompto’s mouth, even though the blonde was quick to cover his mouth with his hand it still sounded awful.

“I… I lied okay? I’ve never gotten a hook stuck in my tail before, and this hook has been here for a month. I don’t know what to do about it and it hurts really bad so can you please help me? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-” Prompto’s rambling was cut off by his own scream when Noctis pulled the hook out of his tail.

“I got it. You don’t have to be sorry, it probably hurt really bad, I could’ve done without the slapping and pushing though.” Noctis added as he turned the hook around in his fingers, before giving it to Prompto.

“Why are you giving it to me?” Prompto questioned, staring at the hook like it was a cursed object.

“Figured you could put it in your collection.” Noctis replied gesturing to all the various objects in the room. Prompto snorted before placing the hook on the ground.

“It wouldn’t fit in, plus I hate that hook, so I don’t want it here. Most of the stuff I collect is stuff that people have lost in the ocean. I’d give it back but, the tail usually freaks people out. I used to steal small stuff, but that still felt wrong, which is why I started collecting these cameras!” Noctis had to dodge to avoid getting punched when Prompto suddenly shoved the camera in his face. “Now I can just take pictures of random stuff I think is cool instead of stealing it.” Prompto added as he showed Noctis several pictures on the camera.

“What’s with your sudden change in personality?” Noctis questioned, thrown off by Prompto’s friendly behavior.

“At first I thought you were going to kill me, I know that sounds pretty crazy but it’s happened before. Instead of attacking me you decided to help, so you’re basically my best friend now. Plus, you’re the first human who hasn’t run away screaming at the sight of my tail.” Prompto replied, moving his tail up and down to emphasize his point. Noctis was about to ask another question when his phone started ringing, startling both of them. Picking up his phone, Noctis read the name of the contact and groaned.

“Ignis.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Yeah, what is it Ignis?” Noctis asks when he finally answers the phone, earning a sigh from Ignis. Noctis can tell Prompto wants to know who Ignis is, but now isn’t the best time for explanations.

“I’ve been looking for you all day your highness. Apparently you disappeared after running from the paparazzi on the beach, no one has seen you since. You’re late for the gala, which is being held in your honor might I add, if you don’t make an appearance soon people will start asking questions.” Noctis stared at the time on his phone in shock, he was sure he’d lost the paparazzi at around three, the gala was supposed to start at six, and it was now six fifteen. Had he really been here for over three hours, it certainly hadn’t felt that long.

“I’ll be there soon, I guess time just got away from me.” Noctis assured, before hanging up the phone. Noctis covered his face with his hands and groaned, it’s not like he’d wanted to go to the gala, even if it was for him. Noctis’ lack of desire to attend was further crushed by the new and much more interesting merman Prompto.

“Who was that?” Prompto questioned, still busying himself with one of his cameras.

“It was my, friend Ignis. He told me I was late for something important, so I should probably get going.” Noctis answered,setting his phone down and sinking into the pool. He was about to dive under and swim out, when Prompto grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“You can’t go out that way you’ll drown!” Noctis wanted to ask how Prompto knew he would drown, but that could result in answers he didn’t want to hear, so he kept his questions to himself.

“So the only way out, leads to certain death?” Prompto confirmed this statement with a nod of his head.

“You’ll definitely drown before you get out, since you don’t have gills or anything. That’s it!” Prompto suddenly jumped into the water after his shout, accidentally splashing Noctis in the process.

“What’s it?” Noctis asked to busy rubbing the water out of his eyes to notice Prompto swimming closer

“I can help you get out of here. It’ll be really easy, but you’re gonna have to trust me.” Prompto stated pulling Noctis closer to himself.

“Okay, what’s the worst that could happen?” Of course Noctis knew the worst outcome was drowning, but he was ignoring that for now. Prompto wrapped Noctis’ arms around his waist and sent him a reassuring smile.

“You’re going to want to hold on tight. I swim pretty fast, and it would be pretty bad if you lost your grip.” Noctis nodded, finally realizing what Prompto planned to do.

“Ready when you are.” Noctis stated, if Prompto was certain this would work then why would he have any doubts.

“Alrighty! Let’s go, take a deep breath.” Prompto stressed the importance of Noctis holding his breath before slowly sinking them into the water. Once they were completely submerged Prompto took off.


	6. Chapter 6

Noctis quickly realized he wasn’t actually ready when Prompto took off at a speed he was certain even cars couldn’t reach. Noctis shut his eyes not only because of how the salt water burned, but because he thought he was going to get sick if he attempted to look at anything.

“Noct? You doing alright?” Prompto questioned when they finally reached the surface. Noctis continued to hold onto Prompto with his eyes shut, earning a small laugh from the blonde.

“Yeah, I’m great Prompto.” Noctis assured, still feeling woozy from the ride. Prompto chuckled lightly and pushed Noctis’ bangs out of his face.

“If you’re doing great you can let go Noct.” Noctis knew Prompto was just teasing, but that didn’t stop him from groaning and hiding his flushed face in Prompto’s chest.

“When did you give me a nickname?” Noctis asked, mostly to avoid more teasing. Noctis’ plan worked surprisingly well when Prompto started laughing nervously with pink starting to tint his cheeks.

“It’s just something I came up with on the way out. If you hate it I’ll stop using it.” Prompto replied, slightly worried he had somehow upset Noctis.

“No, feel free to use it. I love it.” Prompto crossed his arms in response to Noctis’ teasing.

“I just realized I left something in the cave, we better go back and get it.” The color drained from Noctis’ face when Prompto spoke, earning a very loud laugh from the blonde. “I’m joking, you have somewhere to be anyway.” Noctis groaned when Prompto reminded him of the gala.

“Right, I guess all see you around then. Thanks for not letting me drown.” Noctis added, slowly swimming to shore.

“Thanks for getting rid of the hook!” Prompto yelled waving at Noctis’ slowly disappearing figure.

When Noctis finally got back to the castle he realized he’d need to sneak his way through the back, knowing nobles and plenty of other high class people would be waiting in the foyer. Luckily, Noctis had been a fairly rebellious child and knew how to sneak into the castle with ease. Upon reaching his room Noctis went about making himself presentable, drying and brushing his hair, and changing into the suit neatly laid out on the bed for him.

“I wonder who will kill me first, my dad or Ignis.” Noctis mumbled, quickly running down the stairs to the foyer where everyone was waiting. Once he entered the foyer he was greeted by the eyes of hundreds of upper class citizens, who quickly went back to their conversations after acknowledging his arrival. Noctis sighed, pulling on his tie in a vain attempt to remove it.

“I almost expected you not to show.” Ignis commented once he reached Noctis.

“Yeah, well I’m full of surprises. Is my father here?” Noctis inquired, scanning the crowd with his eyes.

“He is indeed, and on time might I add. However, he is rather busy and you still haven’t told me why you vanished on the beach earlier today.” Ignis answered, grabbing Noctis’ arm to hold his attention. “Is that a piece of seaweed in your hair?” Ignis questioned, trying to get a closer look, causing Noctis to pull away from him.

“We’ll talk later.” Noctis assured, pulling the seaweed out of his hair and quickly disappearing into the crowd. Ignis sighed, well aware that later meant never in Noctis’ mind. Looks like he’d have to get answers himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ignis is finally here! Don't worry, Gladio is going to get roped into the shenanigans soon enough!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna sound really dumb, but I totally forgot to upload the next chapter. Knowing me this will probably happen again, but I'll try to avoid goofing up as much as possible!

It was only after the gala when Noctis finally realized he’d left his phone in the cave. Noctis was not about to admit that he’d nearly torn his room apart looking for it, because that definitely didn’t happen. Noctis sighed, currently laying in the center of his bed with his arm shielding his eyes, he quickly realized that he’d have to go back Prompto’s cave in order to get his phone back. This wasn’t necessarily a problem, but one, he refused to admit he wanted to go back, and two Ignis was definitely suspicious which would make it more difficult to get out unnoticed.

“I’ve snuck out before and I’ll do it again.” Noctis assured himself, rolling out of bed and opening the door to his bedroom. Normally he would just jump out the window and warp, but he was pretty sure Ignis figured that out, and would most likely be expecting that type of escape. Even so, Noctis was almost unsettled by just how easy it was to get out of the castle. He thought he would’ve at least seen guards walking down that halles, but he didn’t. Instead of dwelling on the fact, Noctis decided to immediately take off towards the cave, hoping that he’d get back before anyone noticed his absence.

Sliding down the side of the cave was exactly the same as before, uncomfortable, especially since Noctis still landed on his ass.

“I really need to get better at that.” Noctis grumbled, standing up and dusting the sand off his clothes. Unfortunately, today seemed to be one mistake after another, once Noctis realized he forgot to bring a flashlight. There was no light in the cave, after all it was about eight thirty, so the sun had long since disappeared. After spending a few moments waiting for his eyes to get adjusted to the perpetual darkness, Noctis started carefully crawling around the cave in search of his phone. After spending several minutes aimlessly searching Noctis noticed the silhouette of another person.

“Prompto?” Noctis questioned, trying to keep his voice down to prevent a loud echo.

“Mmh, wha? Noct, is that you? What are you doing here?” Noctis could vaguely see Prompto rubbing his eyes and swimming towards him.

“Were you sleeping?” Noctis asked, earning a yawn and a small nod from Prompto.

“I was having a pretty good dream to, but why are you here?” Prompto inquired, another yawn leaving his mouth.

“I left my phone here, on accident.” Noctis acknowledged that the ‘on accident’ was an afterthought, but he wasn’t about to consider why. Instead, Noctis watched Prompto move his hands along the edge of the pool, before both were suddenly blinded by the phone turning on.

“Why is your brightness set to the sun?!” Prompto screamed, covering his eyes after the phone started glowing.

“It’s not that bright during the day, and I usually have time to turn down the brightness at night.” Noctis responded, turning the phone off and putting it in his pocket.

“Well since you’ve got all the answers, how are you getting out of here?” Noctis bit his lip in response, earning a snort from Prompto.

“I could stay here tonight, I’m not exactly in the mood to have you torpedo us back to shore.” Noctis’ statment caused Prompto to let out an indignant noise, Noctis chuckled in response.

“I guess you could stay here, I doubt it’ll be very comfortable. Oh wait! You could sleep here!” Noctis followed Prompto to the opposite end of the cave, where a nest of blankets laid. Noctis wanted to question why Prompto had a makeshift bed, but decided that was a question for a different time.

“Thanks Prompto.” Noctis stated after laying on the bed, already curling into a ball.

“Sure thing, night Noct!” Prompto replied, resting his head and arms at the edge of the pool, and almost immediately falling asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I have a few chapters already written and will be posting them daily, but after that chapters will likely get less consistent. Anyways, thank you for reading and I hope to see you again!


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